This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Milicevic, G. Articles by Prpic, H. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Milicevic, G. Articles by Prpic, H. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Self-poisonings with Psychopharmacological Agents in Zagreb

G. Milievi

Emergency Medical Centre, Zagreb, Yugoslavia

H. Prpi

Emergency Medical Centre, Zagreb, Yugoslavia

1 A 5-year retrospective study of 1743 episodes of self-poisoning in 1608 adult patients, was undertaken to determine the frequency of self-poisoning with psychopharmacological agents, the frequency of each toxic agent usage and the epidemiological characteristics of the poisoned population.

2 The annual incidence of self-poisoning in Zagreb was 38.7 per 100 000 adult inhabitants. The anxiolytic-antipsychotic-antidepressant usage ratio was 8.8:1.5:1.0 in total self-poisoning, whereas it was 4.9:1.5:1.0 in patients with a previous history of self-poisoning. The use of anxiolytics decreased and the use of antidepressants increased during the 5 years.

3 The female—male ratio was 3.8:1 and 77% of self-poisoned persons were aged 15-44 years. The incidence of self-poisoning was 74% higher in the urban than in the rural population. The proportion of self-poisoned persons was 204% higher among the unemployed than in the population as a whole. There were 76% more repetitors among highly educated and 43% fewer repetitors among students than in the general population. The use of antipsychotics was 120% higher in males than in females. The use of antidepressants was 107% higher in the highly educated.

4 The increased use of antidepressants in self-poisoning is an alarming signal and caution in their prescription seems to be indicated.

Human & Experimental Toxicology, Vol. 10, No. 5, 305-309 (1991)
DOI: 10.1177/096032719101000502


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?